WEBSITE : www.hawthornhighschool.co.uk TWITTER : @HawthornHighSchool TELEPHONE : 01443 841228 FAX : 01443 846464 EMAIL : [email protected] MR. J. HICKS Annual Governors’ Report 2017 HEADTEACHER/ PRIFATHRO Headteacher's Message B.A. ( Hons) M.A. ( Ed.) 2017 has been another excellent year for Hawthorn High School as the site continued to Inside this issue develop, teachers began to grapple with the exciting prospects of a new curriculum for Wales and pupils continued to achieve at the very highest levels across the school. Sixth- Head teacher’s Message form students and their teachers were able to celebrate another outstanding set of A Level results and for the second consecutive year 100% of our students achieved the level 3 School results ................2 threshold (a 12% improvement on the figure three years ago). Performance was strong across a wide spectrum of subjects and students entered for the graded Welsh Baccalaure- Welcome from Chair…...3 ate achieved excellent results with 100% of entries achieving a grade C or above. Almost Meet the Governors …...4 all students earned a place at their chosen universities but especially worthy of note amongst many outstanding performances were those of Morgan Cronin who achieved 2 A* New Sixth Form Team....5 and 2 A grades and has embarked upon her studies at the prestigious Yale University in the Finance ………………..…....6 United States, Bethan Lisles who is reading Physics with Medical Physics at Cardiff Universi- Attendance.…………….....7 ty, Jen McGrath reading Modern History and Politics at Cardiff University and Saleem Domun reading Accounting and Finance at the University of Bristol. We are very proud of Celebrating Success …...8 the continuing success of our students in the Sixth Form and we are especially delighted Add. Learning Needs….. 9 this year that so many of them achieved the results that they required to attend the Uni- Primary Transition…10/11 versities of their choice. Our work within the Pontypridd Sixth Form partnership (especially with the University of South Wales) and very significant improvements at GCSE Destinations…..………... 12 at the school in recent years leaves even more students well placed to follow in their foot- Healthy Schools.......... .13 steps. Sixth Form facilities at the school are now the best they have ever been and it was a Sporting Success.....14/15 lovely to attend the first Sixth Form open evening to be hosted at the University of South Music and Drama….16/17 Wales campus in Treforest. There cannot be many schools in Wales in the fortunate posi- tion of ourselves and Pontypridd High School being situated so advantageously in terms of Estates ……………….…18/19 a major university and our work with USW has been one of the many highlights of the Community ………………..20 year. We are especially grateful to Dr Louise Bright (a member of the governing body) for her particular work in this aspect of school life. ESTYN stated that HAWTHORN HIGH SCHOOL 2017 has a caring ethos and“The is school a fully inclusive community. The Record Breaking Results! school motto ‘Health, Happiness, Success’ is promoted well at every opportunity.” Success Across the Ability Range The school’s success in improving results year on year has raised aspirations across our community. Our work with the University of South Wales and the Seren Network has seen many more students applying to top universities. In September 2017 Morgan Cronin from Rhydyfelin embarked upon her studies at Yale University in the USA. Hawthorn High School - A school at the heart of the community 2 Headteacher’s Message continued Hawthorn At GCSE last summer many great things were achieved. Of particular note amongst a range High School ofHeadteacher’s the highest achieving Message results continued were those of Sion Lewis, Manparteet Singh and Harry Rob- bins who achieved 9 A*/A grades; Guraman Grewal who was awarded 8 A*/A grades along School Lane, withAt Lewysthe start James, of theKarun Spring Dhindsa, term Matthew we undertook Owen, Serena process Denning, to appointJessica Fry, a newBeatrice Deputy Mwendo,Headteacher Ben Welling, at the Sam school Quick, and Rohen we Renold received and Cameron26 applications Thompson. for Performance the position. at Hawthorn, theAt highest the end grades of a rigorouswas especially selection pleasing process and, despitewe were the delighted very significant to offer changes the positionto the to Pontypridd, examinationMrs Claire system Crockett this year, who no pupil is leftcurrently without Deputya qualification, Headteacher 93% achieved at Morristonat least 5A*Comprehensive - G grades and 64%School at leastin Swansea. 5 GCSE grades Mrs. CrockettA*- C. The is changes a former to thepupil examination of Hawthorn sys- and RCT temit isin lovelyWales tothis see year one make of itour very own difficult returning to draw to the comparisons community. with I previousknow you perfor- will join mance but the results continue to be a credit to all the hard work of staff and students alike. me in making her feel very welcome at the school when she takes up her role in In terms of pupils achieving the highest grades these are, however, amongst the best GCSE CF37 5AL September. results ever at Hawthorn High School in a whole range of subjects and we are immensely proudThe ofschool the young site has people continued who have to achieved enjoy majorthem. refurbishments To see our pupils this achieve year in and this the fash- first ionyear under of suchoperation intense ofpressure the swimming is delightful pool and has their been parents a great should success. be very The proud new of lower them.school This provision has been has a real been team greeted effort warmlybetween bystaff, parents parents, and pupilspupils and alike governors and recently and I would like to thank them all for their hard work and support. opened its own office facility manned by Mrs. Morgan. March saw the doors September saw a number of new appointments to the school staff including Mrs Crockett opening to our new community sports hall and the adjacent areas have also been Clerk (Deputy Headteacher), Ms Hayes and Ms. Haltham (Humanities Department), Mr Gillies to the (Head given of aICT significant and Business), facelift Ms Evans including and Mr the Thomas complete (Science replacement Department) of and all in theJanuary fencing Governing Body theyaround were thejoined tennis by Mrs and Strong netball (Head courts. of Science) In the and new Mr. Cobbfinancial (Head year of English). we have All excitingthese newplans staff to havefurther settled develop in very the well sixth and formbeen study made toand feel leisure welcome facilities by the community.on the campus Theand school we siteare has in continued discussion to enjoywith majorthe refurbishments Local Authority this yearabout and theplans operation for the of Ms. Simone Delaney theredevelopment swimming pool of under our canteenthe management facilities. of the school continues to be a great success. The new main canteen facility has been greeted warmly by staff and pupils alike and the Hawthorn High Parents and pupils alike can now stay abreast of all the exciting developments at the refurbishment of the main car park has been a major step forward both aesthetically and in School, termsschool of ourusing site our management App (available capability. on ios The and newly Android) refurbished and by Sixth following form block the openedschool on School Lane, itstwitter doors in September @HawthornHighSch and students (at from the both last schools count in thewe Pontypriddhad almost Sixth 1500 Form followers). can Hawthorn, nowWe access also hope directly to theirsee a own redesign study, andcafé relaunchand wifi facilitiesof the school’s in the websiteheart of thebefore school the and end Pontypridd. withof specialistthe academic teaching year. areas 2016/17 within their has base.been a wonderful year in the history of our Parentsschool and and, pupils with alike your can nowcontinuing stay abreast support, of all the we exciting have developmentsvery high hopes at the for school this CF37 5AL usingacademic our new year school for allAPP the which young will people be available in our from care. 16th April onwards, to download 01443 841228 search for 'OurSchoolsApp' either via the App Store for IOS devices or Google Play for An- droid devices. Once the App has downloaded, parents can search for Hawthorn High School via the school’s postcode and once selected Hawthorn High School will become their default school on the App. You can also follow the school on twitter @HawthornHighSch (at the last count we had almost 2000 followers) and we also hope to see a redesign and relaunch Chair of Governors of the school’s website in the coming weeks. 2016/17 has been a wonderful year in the his- Mrs. Helen Cook tory of our school and, with your continued support, we have very high hopes for this aca- demic year for all the young people in our care. Welcome from Chair of Governors Mrs. Helen Cook On behalf of all governors, I have great pleasure in presenting you with our Annual Report, which highlights the continuing successes of all our pupils. It is especially pleasing to see students achieve their potential within the back drop of the pressures of today’s life. Governors are acute- ly aware of the hurdles our young people have to negotiate and give their full support to the school in their quest to prepare pupils for their journey. I would like to extend my thanks, as Chair of Governors, to the Headteacher and all his staff for their outstanding commitment and hard work. Improvements to the school site and facilities are continuing to pro- vide our pupils, parents and the wider community with more opportuni- ties and access a wider range of activities.